From: Segun Babatunde in Bauchi
The Federal Road Safety Corp(FRSC) has confirmed that 20 people have died while seven others sustained various degrees of injuries in multiple crashes that occurred in Bauchi on Sunday.
The Sector Commander, FRSC Bauchi State, Yusuf Abdullahi who confirmed this to newsmen Monday said that the two separate crashes occurred 30 minutes apart and at two different locations in the state.
According to him, the first crash which involved two vehicles, an 18-seater Toyota Hummer bus and a trailer, occurred at about 7.00pm, at Bambal Village along Kano-Jama’are highway.
He said that the 18-seater bus collided with a trailer with number plate: MAD710XA and it went up in flames. The passengers were burnt beyond recognition.
“The crash was caused by speed violation. There were 16 people involved in this crash comprising 10 male adults and six female adults.
“When the hummer bus rammed into a moving trailer and it went into flames, killing all the occupants on board. The corpses were taken to General Hospital Kiyawa where a medical doctor confirmed them dead,” he said.
Abdullahi said the second crash happened at 6.30pm at Duhuwar Kura village, along Azare-Zaki road, killing four passengers and injuring seven others.
The FRSC boss stated that the crash involved a Volkswagen Golf car driven by one Abubakar Haruna and a Bajaj Boxer motorcycle. He added that it also caused by speed violation and overloading.
He said that: “There were 11 people involved in the crash comprising of nine male adults, one female adult and one female child.
“After the crash, the victims were rushed to the Federal Medical Center, Azare, for confirmation and treatment, where a medical doctor confirmed four male adults dead. Those injured included five male adults, one female adult and one female child.”
The FRSC Commander who lamented the frequent crashes along routes across the state. “This accident is very terrible. This crashes are very disturbing”, added that: “The unfortunate thing is that these people drive pass through our routes. You know the Azare-Kano road is dualized, so they drive recklessly.
“The problem is speed, they don’t drive within the approved speed limits. It is very unfortunate. We call on drivers to avoid overloading and overloading. They should also observe road traffic rules and regulations so that lives and properties that are lost in these crashes will be minimized”.